Political Parties Flashcards
political parties
organized group that attempts to control the government by electing its members to office
benefit seekers
interest groups
office seekers
political parties
How much does it cost to run for the House of Representatives
1 million
How much does it cost to run for senate
several million
How much does it cost to run for the president?
approx. 1 billion
Getting Out the Vote
- parties play a role in registering voters and persuading people to vote
- GOTV- many organizations go door-to-door, use social media, flyers, live phone calls to get people to go vote or vote for a particular candidate
- parties offer a recognizable brand
majority party
party that holds the majority seat in the senate or house
party activists
strong identifiers who not only vote, but also volunteer time and energy to party affairs
federalists and democratic-republicans
- (1776-1812)
- first party system
- Federalists
- Washington, Hamilton
- Northeasterners, manufacturing and commercial interests
- Democratic-Republicans
- Jefferson, Madison
- Southerners, Agrarian interests
Founders thought these parties would help create stable voting blocs within Congress around cohesive party agendas
Democrats and Whigs
- (1830-1860)
- second party system
- Democrats: Jackson, Van Buren
- stronger in the south and west
- Opposed national bank and tariffs
- Whigs: Harrison
- stronger in the northeast among mercantile groups
- supported national bank, tariffs and internal improvements
- conflicts over slavery caused the party to end
Republicans and Democrats
- (1860-1896)
- third party system
- Republicans: appealed to recently freed black voters, the north, and businesses
- Democrats: south and the working class
- white southern democrats disenfranchized black voters. resulted in an even competition between parties
Republicans and Democrats pt 2
- (1896-1932)
- fourth party system
- Republicans: McKinley, Hoover
- strong in the Northeast and the Midwest
- National power and business interests
- Democrats: Bryan
- strong in the south and the west
- rural, minority party with a populist bent
New Deal Coalition
- (1932-1968)
- fifth party system
- Democrats: FDR, Johnson
- Solid South, plus black people, union members, Catholics, and Jews
- Republicans: New England and the Midwest
- Business interests, protestants
- americans blamed republicans for the Great depression, brought this system in motion
- ended due to civil rights and the Vietnam War
Democrats and Republicans pt. 3
- (1968-present)
- sixth party system
- Democrats:
- southern whites left the party over civil rights
- catholics and religous conservatives moved to the right
- Republican Party is built on economic and social conservatives
- Democrats: unionized workers and upper middle class professionals
- both parties are more ideologically homogenous
Why do third parties not usually last?
often co-opted to some degree by the major parties
3 reasons political parties form
- the problem of facilitating collective action in the electoral process
- the challenging nature of collective policymaking
- the problems arising from political competition and ambition
Coalitions
political parties
- parties are coalitions of organized groups
- vary their interest on the party they support
- tend to support a party but also bring an element of conflict
Party Systems
- arrangement of parties that are important/relevant at the time
- what issues are important
- changes as the parties realign
Parties in Government
- organize in support / opposition to governmental actions and policies
- select leaders for house / senate and make committee assignments
- politicians in the same party support one another’s legislation
Parties in the Electorate
- voters identify with a political party that reflects their views and interests, after, identification persists
- voters use parties as a shortcut to decide who to vote for
- people develop strong attachments to a party and become party activists
Parties as Institutions
- networks of politicians, activists, interest groups, donors, consultants, and voters
- recruit candidates to run for offices, organize primaries and caucuses, and select a candidate for the general election
- raise money and perform activites on behalf of their members in congress and state legislatures
